IWI’s “Smart Gun” – It’s A Hit!

Paris, France – Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) – a leader in the production of combat-proven small arms for law enforcement agencies as well as governments and armies around the world – will reveal its pistol configuration for the revolutionary eLog comprehensive small arms management and control solution. The system allows Law Enforcement and Special Forces full control of their weapons arsenal, assuring that pistols will be ready for use when needed. According to Uri Amit, President and CEO . . .

The responses which began immediately following the launch of our unique solution – about six months ago – have been exceptional, as are the non-stop customer inquiries. It seems there is a general understanding that this control over weapons arsenals, whether law enforcement or military, can critically affect the readiness of the forces in real time, drastically reducing battlefield mishaps – and ultimately can enable significant savings in logistics and maintenance.

The solution is currently undergoing an evaluation process by a number of police forces and armies – and was recently acquired by a prestigious Special Forces unit. Following the need that we have identified and inquiries from customers, we have expanded the solution, which now is available for all types of pistols.

The solution will be demonstrated at the exhibition on JERICHO and Glock pistols. In addition, the company will present its entire portfolio, including the newcomers – the DAN .338 Bolt Action Sniper Rifle and the NEGEV NG7 LMG.

About eLog

eLog – a comprehensive small arms management & control solution – digitizes the performance of every weapon system – providing precise, previously unavailable information, and allowing superior small arms and spare parts inventory and maintenance management at all levels, including theft alerts. The eLog system consists of three main components: weapon-embedded sensor modules, terminals that collect available data, and armorer management software.

The Concealed Sensor Module records the firearm’s real-time operation and performance, including the number of shots fired, the weapon’s serial number, and the last shooting record. Operated by a replaceable coin battery with an average cycle of at least 3 years, the sensor communicates with the terminal reader via RF technology, transmitting within a range of up to 40m.

The Mobile Terminal Reader, a rugged PDA that collects the recorded data, can simultaneously read data from a specific group of weapons.

The computer-based Armorer Management Software provides a detailed view of each weapon’s status and performance, and generates recommendations or modifications for maintenance and repair. Locations of stored weapons are continuously verified, with alerts sent regarding unauthorized removals.

About Israel Weapon Industries (IWI)

Israel Weapon Industries (IWI), located in the center of Israel, has been a world leader in small arms for over 80 years. IWI is a member of the SK Group, which is composed of companies that develop and manufacture a wide array of military products for governmental entities, armies, and law enforcement agencies around the world. IWI’s best-known products include the TAVOR, X95 (Micro TAVOR), and GALIL ACE Assault Rifles, the GALIL Sniper Rifle, the DAN .338 Bolt Action Sniper Rifle, the NEGEV Light Machine Gun 5.56 & 7.62 mm, the legendary UZI SMG in its latest evolution – UZI PRO, and the JERICHO pistols – which have all been considered weapons of choice by military units and top law enforcement agencies around the world. The company’s firearms are developed in close collaboration with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF): IWI and the IDF join forces in developing these weapons, whose final configurations are the product of ongoing interaction, field tests, and modifications, resulting from combat requirements and experience. All IWI weapon systems are in compliance with the most stringent military standards (MIL-STD) and ISO 9000 standards.

A general comment about computers being in firearms being a horrible idea. Note the location tracking, etc. May as well be named the Confiscation Helper 2000 when some politicians want this in new guns.

it is called Zone tracking chip. buttt your cell phone also reads RFID signel and reports data as of last year.

All credit cards have passive zone tracking chips, all recently printed cash have Zone RFID passive chips. by FCC rules all phones made after 2015 must have open backdoor for the NSA to track and enable any device that can read, receive or transmit RFID, WiFi or cell signels.

zone tracking of firearms and munitions is not new, this just has more bells n whistles. the FCC will of course require GPS added for any US sales. then require this on all firearms…. a law they would actually enforce.

“There is no location tracking. It has a near field RFID chip to transfer data and a simple kinetic sensor to detect and count shots.”

No, it just contains the bits required to track location. If this becomes widespread then the state and private businesses will start using distributed RFID sensors to track these weapons the same way they now use distributed tacking of online activity, surveillance camera data, auto license plates and cell phone calls.

And I’m perfectly fine with requiring law enforcement use of firearms and other force to be monitored. Go right ahead. Make them account for every shot and taze and make them show you from the bodycam footage why it was justified.

If they ever mandate this stuff for civilian use, however…not acceptable.

@Ron T: Don’t think it works that way from the article. Their system does not prevent the gun from being discharges. It merely tracks the discharge data for a commanding officer to review as I read it.

Interesting being that it’s on someone else’s gun and not mine, ’cause none of that shit is necessary for my gun to fire and all I want on the thing is what I need to be able to fire accurately and reliably – and safely.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they had stocks of .45ACP. The IDF seems to have used just about every weapon platform from every country in every caliber since WWII, and they’ve made Uzis and Jerichos in .45 for decades.

Unless I misread the article, it sounds more like this functions like the hour meter on a piece of heavy equipment, and lets you know how much it’s been used and when maintenance is due. Doesn’t sound like it affects the shootability, which isn’t a bad thing. Better to simply schedule regular preventative maintenance, though, than to rely on a gadget.

This sounds like an OnStar and GPS tracking device for guns. I didn’t consider GM cars because of OnStar and I would do the same when it comes to guns. I didn’t upgrade my cell phone because I don’t want to be tracked. They could track the gun to the exact place you hid it.

If by “didn’t upgrade”, you mean “haven’t upgraded for twenty years and am still rocking a 1996 Motorola StarTac”, then I have bad news for you: you can be tracked with any reasonably modern phone made in the last decade or so. The E911 service can transmit your phone’s GPS coordinates to the carrier, and that’s been a mandated feature of phones for quite a while now. It’s only supposed to be used when you dial 911, but… “Supposed to” doesn’t seem to offer much protection against privacy abuses in many other situations, so why would it apply here?

In any case, cell phone carriers can and do gather ridiculous amounts of data, and having an older phone doesn’t stop that. They might get more data from a newer phone, but they can get plenty out of a plain ol’ flip phone if they want.

This is what “smart gun technology” should be about. Maintenance and repairs are often done on an as needed or batch type routine checks. Treating firearms the same as heavy machinery or transportation with recorded usage cycles makes sense from a departmental or organizational standpoint. It would help accountability without negatively affecting the actual operation unlike other so-called “smart” guns.
I actually wouldn’t mind having my own digital maintenance record that doesn’t have to be manually entered.

This device is what is going to revolutionize military and police small arms maintenance. This isn’t for making a “smart gun”. It just means you have a precise shot log, which is going to vastly increase the reliability for the end soldiers are cops.

I wonder when reasonably intelligent folks are going to let go of the idea that EVERY device, no matter what, has to be married to some sort of computer? There are quite a few everyday appliances where a computer just makes everything more trouble than it’s worth – refridgerators and ovens instantly springing to mind.

Likewise with guns. Firearms are mechanical, not electronic, devices, subject to tremendous, repetitive shocks (particularly so in the case of autoloading pistols) while emitting considerable heat, both mortal enemies of electronics. Simply put, they are not compatible.

I like the Tavor, and I’m still mightily hoping to buy or trade for one, but after that I think I may be done with IWI.

Tom, you need to educate yourself. This device has nothing to do with the gun’s core functionality, nor does it have any location tracking options. It’s basically a built in digital shot counter. That is all.

It may well exist…but a purely mechanical gun can’t be subject to it. (Since you are here, I’m guessing you have one or two of those…golly geez, maybe even three of them!) And in this particular gun, the electronics don’t appear to be for controlling the gun but rather for recording how many shots are fired from it.

And “The computer-based Armorer Management Software provides a detailed view of each weapon’s status and performance, and generates recommendations or modifications for maintenance and repair. Locations of stored weapons are continuously verified, with alerts sent regarding unauthorized removals.” They track them.

You do realize that some businesses, such as Walmart, had RFID chips removed from TVs and other items due to the fact you could scan a house and see what they had. Walmart used to use RFID chips to scan TVs in inventory by just waving a handheld computer near them. A stronger device could scan a house…

Ron, no RFID device can work through a house. The inverse square law is not your friend. I work for a company that makes industrial RFID equipment. If such a technology was possible, we would have made it and marketed it.

Sorta, but in reality, almost impossible. The non-powered RFIDs used to track merch would need to have a whole lotta RF pumped at them. The powered ones (like this IWI nonsense) you just need the right receiver.

Ron, I worked at WM while finishing my masters in 2010-2. We had a wand we waved over the racks in the sock/panties areas to inventory how many packages were on the shelf. Had to get about 18inches from each product row, and it wasn’t always reliable, but RFID is used on a sh! T ton more stuf/products/packages in the store now.

No big deal, all they do is hum/resonate their UPC by radio frequency. 🙂

Whatever happened to just replacing springs every 1,000 rounds or sooner if needed. LEO & military ISSUE ammunition. I can tell you every round count of weapons in an armory by doing this amazing thing called math. You are issued 200 rounds, you have 55 rounds left when you walk off the range; 145 shot. If you find an agency that does not know how much ammo is used they have a poor armorer, all I have worked for or with use it up towards budget end so they can justify purchasing more or new brand, caliber, etc…

Its a reason to pass smart gun legislation
LEO will be able to walk around scan if you are carrying & use it as probable cause for a Terry style stop. BTW the RFID blocking wallets half don’t work had credit cards scanned through one of the expensive ones. Since then they have had an accident & my ATM card is wrapped in brass screen since the took of mag reader stripe.

As a guy who works on guns, I’m looking at this and seeing a solution in search of an actual problem.

OK, for an arsenal (ie, a real arsenal), it might speed up record collection, but… how much time is spent on that?

This is about the equivalent of RFID chips in ear tags on cattle. OK, so you no longer need someone sitting off to the side of the head catch with a log book at you run ’em through the chute for injections and preg-testing, but it doesn’t change the fundamental issues of animal husbandry. Someone is still gonna have their hand up the backside of the cow…

As a guy who works in an ISO 9000 industrial setting, paper inventory, issue logs, and maintenance records are a nightmare to work with, and accountability is easily ignored or fudged. Huge amounts of time is spent sorting out discrepancies or trying to find or redo lost paperwork.

Not to say computer systems are without their flaws, but there is a reason just about all companies are digitizing their systems.

Sig has a bar code on the new 228 M11A1.
Why imbed RFID?
As to battery how long ago was a cell phone with a portable battery about 20 pounds now they are smaller than my business card & thick as a quarter.

I see this technology as the first step down a very slippery slope. I’m surprised that I’m in the minority here. Putting “chips” in guns is a precedent we should all avoid. Once the technology has been accepted as commonplace, there will be a push for more and more applications such as tracking, remote control, authorized users, etc. Who thinks Bloomberg and the progressive media won’t jump on those ideas as “common sense” gun control? Right, nobody. The benefits to police department armorers are far outweighed by the danger that the technology will be abused and expanded. I hear what people are saying here that the technology doesn’t harm gun owners now. But I worry about two things: 1. Does it allow the government (or bad guys) to drive down my street with an RF receiver and know there is a gun in my house, when it was last shot, and how many times? (A: yes.) 2. Where will this technology inevitably lead? (A: almost certainly to abuse).

I would love to see a RFID that is running off a battery that gives you three years of life that can fit into a handgun or rifle punch thru a house. That 40 yard range is unobstructed on a good day with no outside interference.

I think you may be forgetting about how important antennas and freqs are. The article doesn’t specify, but here’s the approved choices… The xmitter may be small, but there’s tons of room for a very efficient radiator.

5W of RF on the right freq with a good antenna can transmit across the planet, getting through an average home with milliwatts? Very believable with proper antenna design, though I do have my doubts on battery life even for a coin Li.

“AS ADVERTISED” isn’t what Americans would get if they buy an “American Gun Control” version under the same brand name. I have been studying American consumers for over 40 years – they will buy ANYTHING without thinking things through. WE are just too damned gullible – believe it.

How about we get law enforcement to use bullets with miniature cameras, that up load in slow motion to a monitor, so we can see exactly what the the gun was aimed at, what kind of dog it was, and where the dog was hit.

Just because we’re paranoid doesn’t mean that we don’t have enemies. I worry about what the system will do in addition to what is discussed here. Any time control (or even information) about my weapon is in someone else’s hands, I’m suspicious.